Can I be a nurse if I'm NOT detail oriented by nature?

[travelgurl18]

I am currently working as a CNA and Unit Sec. in a hospital and LOVING it! But I have a very bad memory so I have to write everything down, which hasn't stopped or hindered me from completing anything so far. Part of my job is entering labs and making lab slips for the nurses. It has to be VERY accurate and its very easy to miss something and make a mistake. Well I am only one week into it but I feel like I am not catching all the details that I should be. I don't know if I'm "slower" or too hard on myself of what but I'm worried that maybe I wouldn't make a good nurse because of this.

I am good at doing all the skills but not the best with remembering numbers and verbal orders.

[JenniferWilson74]

Memory is a skill like anything else. The more you do it, the better you get at it. When you go home at the end of the day, review what you did that day, where you messed up, where you struggled to remember things, and think of ways to do it better the next day.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Yes. Memory is much like any other skill. The more you do it and pay attention to doing it, the better you'll become at it. If I need to remember something, I will write it down on my paper brain and just remember to refer to it later. However, the more you strive to recall the info you wrote down, the better your memory will naturally become. As long as you keep writing stuff down, you'll always have a backup in the event that you forget something specific.

You can train your mind to pay attention to the details. Just work at doing it and it'll happen.

[travelgurl18]

Thanks, I going to try and do some different memory exercises and techniques

[travelgurl18]

Just wanted to write an update to this post, for anyone who might come across this and wonder how things turned out.

The above posters were 100% correct, I have learned to have an amazing memory, that I never in a million years thought was possible, and I am really excelling at my job. :)